Speaking at a press briefing held at the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) Olympic house, Bakau, on Monday, Mama Faal Kah, the admin secretary of GNPC who doubled as the coordinator of the programme, described the event as important, explaining that the IPC is here to do an assessment programme on the in-country support programme that the GNPC is implementing.
Madam Faal Kah also said the IPC’s coming to The Gambia is in three folds: evaluation, grant implementation and strategic plan.
“We have done a three working day intensive programme for in-country support. The National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is implementing a grant project on the NDP Programme so the IPC is here to assess the programmes and standards of the NPC to where we are now and where we project to be in the future,” she said.
Carolin Rickers, the senior manager from the IPC, said the in-country support programme is organised by the IPC as a component of the National Paralympic Committees Development Programme financed by the world-wide Paralympic partner of the IPC.
She said the in-country support is an initiative to work directly together with the National Paralympic Committees around the world to understand their situation, working context, and to collect data for the NPCs in order to support them in developing an action plan.
“We really hope that the whole of The Gambia supports the NPC to develop para athletes and to use para sport for an inclusive Gambia”, Carolin Rickers encouraged.
The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 events. The number and kind of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.
The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities or intellectual impairments. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy.
